NCAA Football 14 Tops July Game Sales as Industry Slumps

Electronic Arts' NCAA Football 14 was the best-selling game in July, but the U.S. video game industry faced another tough month as sales fell 19 percent since last year, according to new data from The NPD Group.

Electronic Arts's NCAA Football 14 was the best-selling game in July, but the U.S. video game industry faced another tough month as sales fell 19 percent since last year, according to new data from The NPD Group.

Sales of new gaming hardware, software, and accessories totaled $443 million last month, down from $549.1 million in July 2012, the research firm said. These figures represent new physical retail sales, which account for roughly half of total consumer spend on games. The firm estimates that used and rental sales totaled $134 million while digital format sales brought in an impressive $593 million, bringing total U.S. video game sales to "just under" $1.2 billion in July, similar to June.

The Nintendo 3DS lead hardware sales for a third consecutive month, and was the only platform to show growth over last July, NPD industry analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. As for consoles, the Xbox 360 continued its reign at the top, bringing in the highest sales of any system for 31 months in a row now.

The 3DS also had a good month in terms of software sales, posting double-digit growth in both units and dollars, Callahan said. "Besides launches like Shin Megami Tensei IV, growth [in 3DS software sales] was driven by continued success from games that have launched over the past few months like Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon," he added.

Minecraft, which ranked as the third best-selling game in June, continued to sell well in July, taking second place behind NCAA Football 14. The Last of Us ranked third on unit sales, followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Rounding out the top ten were: Far Cry 3, Battlefield 3, Injustice: Gods Among Us, NBA 2K13, and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.

Did you spend any money on gaming last month? Tell us what you bought in the comments below.

Angela has been a PCMag reporter since January 2012. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a reporter for SC Magazine, covering everything related to hackers and computer security. Angela has also written for The Northern Valley Suburbanite in New Jersey, The Dominion Post in West Virginia, and the Uniontown-Herald Standard in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of West Virginia University's Perely Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
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